Thursday, January 31, 2013

Habit 1

I gave a presentation at a conference last year, and someone commented that if I have a blog called "the 7 habits of highly effective hackers", I should probably have a list of 7 actual habits on said blog. I guess that's fair.

So here we go starting with habit 1, which I promise will be the only non-technical habit of the 7.

Habit 1: Effective hackers know that the game they play IS the real world.
In a sentence; Effective Hackers understand the repercussions of their actions.
There's something about computer systems that causes many people to act in a way that they never would in real life. Some of us would never read a stranger's physical mail, yet would feel no guilt whatsoever about reading their email. We make silly excuses to justify why our online world is different than our real world. That person should have changed the default password on their router; they're stupid and deserve it. That company knows their environment/product is insecure, if they wanted to keep me out they'd have fixed it.

Think this one over. Although there's no CVE number for it yet, it is now being reported that human beings are vulnerable to having bricks thrown at their heads. All versions are affected, and easy methods for exploiting this weakness have reportedly been in the wild for some time now....Would anyone think that the public disclosure of this knowledge, would in any way justify them throwing bricks, and hurting others? Are we more justified because they should have known better?

This probably all sounds really preachy. I'm actually not trying to tell you that you should feel guilt for hurting others (that's between you and your own conscience). I AM trying to say you should understand the repercussions of your actions. If you post someone's PII on pastebin, someone, A REAL PERSON, will experience real grief over it. When you gain access to someone's network, it could mean real impact for that organization. Real people could lose their jobs over it. I'm not telling you to care, I'm telling you that you MUST understand.
You must do whatever you do with your eyes wide open. Know and accept all possible impacts of every scan, every exploit, every move.

Okay, gotta go. My shirt just got out of the dryer. I'm sure we're all familiar with MITM (Mythbuster In The Middle).

25 comments:

Collections from the design labels such as pas cher trx and other beauty are released after every six months.With every new launch, a new penny skateboards cheap online technology is developed.This had led to making TRX For Sale remain competitive in the International market.The entire pas cher trx packaging process is paid into detail to enhance the collections quality and appearance.Now everyone can own high-end designer trx france.TRX Suspension Training Sale being one of the largest and most prominent fashion company in the world, it has an obligation of beating the standards set by others.The fashion world, with a higher concentration on Discount TRX Sale, needs to provide the best packaging services that the modern world has ever seen.TRX Suspension Training On Sale plays a major role in creating a brand name that fashion lovers want to identify with.

Kodak is known for its best imaging products where printers are famous. However, its printers show tech issue and to fix that; you need to talk to the technical experts at 0800-090-3240. KODAK Printer Contact Number UK

Adobe is a famous operating system across the population of UK. It is an advanced platform to suit your projects to build with. For any technical related errors, you an call our skilled technicians at Adobe Help Number UK & Adobe Helpline Number UK

The Linksys WRTAC3200ACM is dual band router that is using open source firmware, hence name it WRT. you can run open source firmware on routers in recent days. so, WRT 3200ACM is not so much unique, but it is called for power users. it is our top pick but it is lost by the margin to the router this is because it is not too fast, and also to achieve its speed of AC3200 you need special hardware. It is strong with 5G technology and it is the best software on the desktop. it is best for a small area use like a small house. Linksys Router Customer Number

About Me

I am an Information Security enthusiast, currently perusing a Masters degree in Information Security and Assurance.
Note: This blog contains my personal opinions, and in no way represents the opinions of my employers.
Information presented here is for educational purposes only. The reader is responsible for their own actions.